Gerard Lawlor happy to 'stick neck out' with stadium funding outlook

Gerard Lawlor is confident clubs will soon start benefitting from stadium funding. Northern Ireland football grounds are set to receive a share of more than £36m which was announced by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons earlier this year.

The money will filter down through all levels of the game here, and also go towards a new national training centre.

The £36.2m figure is the same amount pledged to local football more than 10 years ago, but the funding was hit by a series of delays and the collapse of the NI Executive.

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It has been a protracted and frustrating wait for all clubs, with some football chiefs insisting the new figure required now sits at around £120m.

NI Football League CEO Lawlor believes there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

He told the BBC: "I will put my neck out and say we will see ground improvements in the Irish League. We are closer now to what we have ever been.

"I must praise the minister who has driven the programme forward. We are in a really good place with government at the moment. I can reassure fans that the criteria will be very robust, and there will definitely be no carve-ups.

"And in the next three to five years we will definitely see new facilities within the Irish League, and I will stick my neck out on that."

The £36.2m will be allocated to clubs through an application scheme, with money being handed out from April next year. It is expected that applications will be invited in January and scored the following month.

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Lawlor accepts the figure, which was initially pledged back in 2011, is a small fraction of what is needed to deliver widespread improvements across football grounds here.

"No, it won't go very far across all the clubs. We have 38 clubs in the NI Football League This has to go right across Irish football," he added.

"The Irish FA would like to get a training centre also. The NI Football Fund is a long term project and not just about £36m of funding. We have to look at other areas of football.

"We have to praise the southern government. They gave out €43m this week for two stadiums. That's just two stadiums they have invested €43m in.

"I am confident football is pulling together and our clubs are very united. The department is working with us and the Minister has been good.

"We have to remember we didn't have an Executive for a long time. They are now back and making a difference.

"We will have a scheme opening in January and scored in February, and I would hope clubs will have progression in March. So within the next few months I believe we will see progress."

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